Nestled in volcano valley

Antigua, Guatemala!

Well I couldn’t have imagined I’d be living in a valley surrounded by 3 volcanoes, where the sun rises at 5:30, and the streets are made of hundreds of little stones. The city is like nothing I have ever seen before. Granted, I have not done much world traveling outside of the States and the Dominican, but it is really neat to be living in a place that continually keeps me in awe. The people here are so incredibly nice. I think everyone that I’ve met has had the biggest smile on their face and would have sat down to talk to me for hours if I would let them! Jill and I have been staying very busy since arriving here. Of course we take classes for 5 hours each day (8 am-1 pm), so we spend much of our time at the school. I have been learning so much! It is incredible to me how much I THOUGHT I knew. Really, I’ve been saying worlds of things wrong and mispronouncing a plethora of words. It’s been really exciting to work with Willy, my teacher though. He always has so much energy and starts everyday by saying “Hello! It is a beautiful, wonderful day! How is my favorite student?” (But of course all in Spanish) He is very patient with me as well. Also, he loves to sing! He has been teaching me all these different songs in Spanish to sing with my kids in the DR and to help my pronunciation. I think we have sung a song together everyday thus far.
After school, Jill and I have enjoyed touring and exploring this grand city of Antigua. The first day we were here we took a tour around the city and learned about the different banks, the market, found the McDonalds, and learned plenty other useful tidbits of information. Yesterday we went to the market which was amazing! It’s literally rows and rows of shops with all kinds of colorful handmade bags, purses, wallets, shirts, headbands, you name it, and they have made it! It was quite overwhelming considering how much I took a liking to all the colors and Guatemalan ethnicity of the handmade items! Thankfully I have Jill here to keep me grounded and steer me away from buying to my heart’s content! Then we went to the gym and got a membership for the month and worked out for an hour. We met a very sweet lady who worked there named, Veronica. We instantly connected :)

Today we went to a Jade factory with the school! It was so neat! This boy named Edwardo works there and his family owns the little ‘factory’. He was so passionate and expressive as he was describing how the Jade was made. Jill and I got the biggest kick out of him. Basically his family looks for special kinds of rocks in mines and then makes them into jewelry. Some can take up to several months to handcraft. It was so neat to hear them talk about and show us what they were so passionate about and LOVED to do. Jill and I were also able to make some new friends from the school who went with us. We really enjoyed it.
This weekend we are going to a neat lake that is surrounded by volcanoes. I forget the name, but will update you with pictures very soon. I have lots of pictures posted on Facebook, so you should go check them out.

Keep us in your prayers as we are trying to ingest AS MUCH of this language as possible. It is exciting to think about where we could be in a couple of weeks, as fast as we are learning. God has been so good to me and really, everyday is better than the last.
I love you all and will be back soon.

Love,
Audge